American Film Institute Top 100 American Movies [Archive]

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JVO

06-21-2007, 02:40 PM

Complete List:

http://www.afi.aol.com/cgi-bin/afi-top10/top100.cgi

Whaydayathink?

larryhead

06-21-2007, 02:44 PM

It would be interesting to see the rating system they used... even though Citizen Kane is their #1 pick, I doubt it would hold much box office appeal if it came out today (modernized and in color of course). I suppose it was pretty influential in it's day when it came out in 1941, but I have a hard time believing most people today have even seen it, so I'm guessing it wins first place solely on historical significance.

I still haven't seen Gone with the Wind. :hide:

Soul Queen

06-21-2007, 03:24 PM

I've seen it. Its pretty boring.

Soul Queen

06-21-2007, 03:31 PM

I've seen about 70-75% of those movies. Its interesting that there are so many Hitchcock movies on the list.

I think part of the rating has to do with filming style, was it new for its time, how influential it was, and how popular it was for the time.

Bringing up Baby is one my favorites. It deserves better than 88.

North by Northwest is great too.

I don't know if I would agree with the order of the films.

Do you think that more films from now should be on the list? If so what would you nominate?

JVO

06-21-2007, 03:48 PM

As I understand it, members of the AFI (producers, actors, screen writers, costuming people, directors, set designers, all of the guilds are represented) just all separately made up their ballots and then the results were tabulated. I would imagine that everybody had their own criteria based on their own experience in the industry.

The first time I saw Citizen Kane it completely sailed over my head. But having seen it a couple of more times (I had to do a report on it in a film class that I took in college); I got to the point where I could understand why it is so popular. The entire story takes place over like a 60 year period, and it is about man's mortality and what components of a person's life make up their legacy. Orson Wells gives an incredible performance. It is totally one of those movies that you have to dedicate a significant amount of concentration to in order to understand it. It wouldn't be my #1 movie, but it has been at the top of the list for several decades. The European Film Institute recently did a list also, and Citizen Kane was number 1 on it also. I think many of the themes that are explored in the movie are not necessarily things that whippersnappers spend much time thinking about. Probably more catered for an older audience.

Interestingly, Citizen Kane was a major flop when it was first released. It was only after movies evolved a little, that viewers became sophisticated enough to fully appreciate it.

For me "On the Waterfront" is the most over rated movie of all time. And Marlon Brando is the most over rated actor.

I also found it interesting that "Birth of a Nation" was dropped from the list. For a long time "Birth..." was regarded as the greatest film in the history of America, but I guess PC finally caught up with it. I remember just a few years ago, AFI still had "Birth" in the top ten. How the mighty have fallen.

False Alarm

06-21-2007, 04:12 PM

mrjohnchimpo

06-21-2007, 04:29 PM

i've seen around 75 of them.

i think most of those movies are pretty over-rated. Citizen Kane especially I could never get into...I even studied it in a film class in college and after we were finished I disliked it even more :p

I never understand why critics and film institutes think that mostly only old movies are good. check out the guide on your cable for instance. almost every movie before 1960 automatically gets 3 or 4 stars. is it because they're able to see the historical impact of them or something? or is it because there was less reliance on special effects?

paul

06-21-2007, 04:44 PM

Hmmm, I agree, larryhead, what the heck are the criteria for placing the movies in this list?

I'd guess it's some mix of total revenue generated, some sort of Amercan "wholesomeness" factor, and pop culture impact. Generally not my kind of thing, and probably what a lot of people around here would call "yawners".

Then, of course they have to place some undeniably great movies, like the Kubrick films they list, to give themselves some credibility.

Not really my kind of movies. If I was going to set out to see the 100 greatest movies, this is not where I'd start.

mrjohnchimpo

06-21-2007, 04:56 PM

here's the top 100 box office draws, adjusted for inflation.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/

JVO

06-21-2007, 06:06 PM

I never understand why critics and film institutes think that mostly only old movies are good. check out the guide on your cable for instance. almost every movie before 1960 automatically gets 3 or 4 stars. is it because they're able to see the historical impact of them or something? or is it because there was less reliance on special effects?

I think the reason why all of the old movies on tv are 3 or 4 stars is simply because those are the only ones that they would bother showing. In thirty years I doubt that anybody will remember "Employee of the Month", but people will still be watching "Saving Private Ryan". I am sure there are a slew of crappy movies from the 40's, 50's, and 60's that have fallen into obscurity.
I also think that the reason there are so many old movies on the list is because of how influential they have been to current writers, directors, and actors. On the AFI show last night, Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Stephen Spielberg, Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood etc. all spoke at length about how important these old movies were in discovering new technology and inspiring the next generation of film makers. Harrison Ford joked that he has never played a single role in a movie that he did not rip off from an old movie from the 40's.

IMO the top two movies should have been “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “The Wizard of Oz”. Those two movies still garner top ratings whenever they are shown on TV (which is at least once a year). Four separate generations have fallen in love with these movies, and both of them are movies that can be enjoyed by men, women, children, and old people. Sure “Citizen Kane” is a great movie, but I doubt that many people can really identify with it. Everyone can identify with the themes of “Wonderful Life” and “Wizard of Oz”.

I have a lot of respect for the AFI poll though. If anybody were to compile a list of the top 100 American films that I respect, it would definitely be the AFI. All of the people who voted on the poll, I am sure know more about movie making, than all of us on the board put together.

JVO

06-21-2007, 06:09 PM

I'd guess it's some mix of total revenue generated, some sort of Amercan "wholesomeness" factor, and pop culture impact. Generally not my kind of thing, and probably what a lot of people around here would call "yawners".

Total Revenue didn't have any impact. (Again Citizen Kane actually lost money at the box office). The criteria was simply to ask all of the members of the AFI (which is a pretty exclusive club that is comprised of all of the heavyweights in each of the various movie industries) to put together their own list.

They said that Citizen Kane was #1 on over 50% of the ballots, so in the end, it wasn't even close.

Ag Au

06-21-2007, 06:31 PM

hardly any of those movies are at all funny. why isn't humor respected more?
i find that very interesting....

notorious

06-21-2007, 06:44 PM

i just can't believe days of thunder wasn't on the list.

mrjohnchimpo

07-02-2007, 04:33 AM

i was looking around, and found FilmSpot's top 100. Which I tend to agree with a lot more at first glance. (plus I've seen 98 of them).

http://www.filmspot.com/infocus/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=133563&tag=recent;featured;title;3&om_act=convert&om_clk=gumballs

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."
~Keyser Soze~

notorious

07-02-2007, 05:18 AM

hotfoot

07-02-2007, 07:07 AM

i've seen 22 of the 100, with maybe 5 to 10 more that i've seen parts of or wasn't really paying attention when they were on in the room.

how many have y'alls seen? probably my number's pretty low.

movies whose appearance on the list pleased me: godfathers, apoc now, LOTR:TFOTR, jaws, rocky, unforgiven, spartacus, goodfellas, pulp fiction.

kinda surprised to see star wars so high and no empire at all.

i've seen 18, which makes me happy since i figured i'd seen about 10.

two picks make me extremely happy. the first, shawshank, makes me happy 'cause i remember when the newspaper ad came out and it was the mid-nineties and black-and-white photography was awesome and the little 1/8 ad had tim robbins arms wide open in the rain. i was very excited about seeing the movie, and when i did it was awesome, but then it disappeared. and, goddamn it, now it's on the top 100 list. nice.

the second, the wild bunch, is one of my two favorite movies ever. i talk about it all the time but it seems like no one's seen it, even though it's a fucking classic. its presence legitimates my pushing the movie. (btw, if you wanna see the greatest shoot-out in a movie ever, watch this movie.)

False Alarm

07-05-2007, 04:56 PM

i've seen 18, which makes me happy since i figured i'd seen about 10.

two picks make me extremely happy. the first, shawshank, makes me happy 'cause i remember when the newspaper ad came out and it was the mid-nineties and black-and-white photography was awesome and the little 1/8 ad had tim robbins arms wide open in the rain. i was very excited about seeing the movie, and when i did it was awesome, but then it disappeared. and, goddamn it, now it's on the top 100 list. nice.

the second, the wild bunch, is one of my two favorite movies ever. i talk about it all the time but it seems like no one's seen it, even though it's a fucking classic. its presence legitimates my pushing the movie. (btw, if you wanna see the greatest shoot-out in a movie ever, watch this movie.)
man you ain't never talked to me about no wild bunch. does look fun though. i'm'a add it to my netflix shit.

hotfoot

07-05-2007, 05:13 PM

man you ain't never talked to me about no wild bunch. does look fun though. i'm'a add it to my netflix shit.

probably because we've never had a conversation about movies that i can remember.